A need exists for an indicator and a method usable with body armor and other similar protective materials that can detect G-forces beyond a specification limit that cause ceramic components contained within body armor or similar ballistic materials to crack, rendering the materials penetrable to a bullet and unable to protect a police officer or soldier.
Presently, soldiers or police do not have an efficient and effective method to conduct a daily inspection of the ceramic components contained within armor plates to determine if the body armor plates have been subjected to damaging G-forces. The time and cost to conduct regular inspections of the ceramic tiles within the plates in service including the loss of the assets during such inspections can be significant and prohibitive.
Digital X-ray machines in field environments are limited, expensive and in many instances not reasonably available.
A significant amount of time may elapse with the continued service of a degraded plate in the body armor, starting from the time the plate receives a potentially damaging force to the time the plate receives a more detailed inspection.
A need exists for a device and method for detecting G-force impacts that can be used in the field, can be inexpensive to install, and can be easy to remove and replace for continued service, because a plate subjected to damaging G-forces may not show external indications of internal ceramic tile damages. Damaging G-forces can crack or otherwise cause a ballistic material, such as the ballistic material used in body armor, to fail.
A need exists for an indicator integral with a ballistic material which can include a ballistic material used in an aircraft or another transport device.
A need exists for an indicator for use with wind towers and solar panels that produce electricity to alert an operator to inspect for potential cracks that may occur due to impacts on the wind towers or solar panels during a tornado or other damaging forces.
The present embodiments meet these needs.